of the course, where Ashburn
made the winning pass on
Baylor. Officials decided to take
no action, saying the course
had evolved, that the section
in question, which involved a
couple of trees, had become a
safety issue, and that the differ
-
ence was only a matter of a few
feet and well within the 25-foot
track boundary.
"I guess they're not going to
give me this one," said Baylor.
"What the hell does the string
and ribbon mean? I stayed on the
track, and I knew where the line
was. I saw it. He passed me there
twice. And yeah, I get racing inci
-
dents. And maybe he didn't see
Ashburn was delighted to get
the win in front of a partisan
crowd.
"Having the home crowd
pushing me made it even
sweeter, but it was an all-day
fight," Ashburn said. "Stew and I
were wheel-to-wheel the whole
time; it was intense. The track
was brutal and fast. I thought it
was going to be a little slower,
but the pace was fast, and you
had to hit your marks, but I'm
happy to get a win at home."
Baylor, meanwhile, was
noticeably upset after the race,
alleging that Ashburn had taken
advantage of a broken course
ribbon on a degrading section
1 BEN KELLEY
10TH XC1
Defending champ Ben Kelley had a
crash that ended his day earlier than
planned. "I got off to a great start
today, was there in the mix, and then
stalled my bike in the rock garden,"
the FMF KTM Factory Racing rider
said. "That put me back a bit, which
wasn't ideal. I settled into a pace, and
with about a lap left, I clipped a tree,
which caused me to have a big crash.
I am bruised up pretty badly, but ini-
tial check-ups show nothing broken,
which is good. I will get checked out
later this week and hope to be back
for the next one."
2 GRANT DAVIS
12TH XC1
Grant Davis was another FMF KTM
team member non-finisher, making
it just two laps. "A rider crashed in
front of me off the start, so I started in
the back," said Davis. "I was able to
pass a few guys and get into the lead
group by the end of lap two. The next
lap, I hit something that caused me to
crash badly. It's a bummer, because
I was feeling great on the bike today
and know I could have been up front."
MYOWNRACE
Eight-time
GNCC champ
Kailub Russell
showed some
of his old
speed with
third overall.
VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P103
